


infectious

by tozjers



Category: IT (Movies - Muschietti)
Genre: Fluff and Angst, M/M, Swearing, They’re like 17, richie and stan and beverly are besties
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-09
Updated: 2020-08-09
Packaged: 2021-03-05 23:00:08
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,781
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25793254
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tozjers/pseuds/tozjers
Summary: Chloe’s One-Shot Contest.In which Eddie‘s been down and closed off lately, and Richie doesn’t know what to do.
Relationships: Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier
Kudos: 37





	infectious

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: “I love it when you’re smiling because it’s infectious, and frankly, quite adorable.”
> 
> ——

He hadn’t been joking around with him as much. That was the first thing Richie noticed. Staring across the table at Eddie, studying him, analyzing him. Eddie hadn’t even looked up to meet his gaze once. He was too busy staring blankly at the assorted fruit cup on the table that he hadn’t even opened yet. Richie was surprised Eddie had opened his lunchbox at all.

Their friends were chatting and joking loudly, and where Richie would normally join in and be ten times louder, he couldn’t bring himself to. Not with Eddie sitting right across from him looking like _that_. Looking so sad and miserable. Richie didn’t like the look on his face. He hated it more than anything. He missed the Eddie that carried a smile around his friends and a playful scowl anytime Richie made a disgusting joke about someone’s mother. How he would bite back and bicker with Richie back and forth. It was their thing. But it had been days since Eddie responded to one of Richie’s jokes, and it was worrying.

A finger snapping in Richie’s ear brought him back to reality, he looked over to see Beverly gazing at him amusedly. “What’s got you so silent today?” she asked in her honeysuckle voice with her soft smirk. “Busy thinking about fucking Eddie Spaghetti’s mom, that’s what. Sonia's on my mind constantly, babe, you know that.” Richie quipped, easily slipping into his usual joking tone. He sent a gaze in Eddie’s direction, but Eddie didn’t say anything, still too focused on that damn fruit cup.

When the group had gone back to joking amongst themselves, Richie took it upon himself to stand up and cross over to the other side of the table, plopping down in the seat next to Eddie and throwing an arm around his shoulder. Eddie flinched out of whatever world he had managed to get into and peered up at Richie with eyes the size of the moon.

Richie had always been mesmerized by Eddie. Eddie Kaspbrak was fucking beautiful, okay? He had big adorable brown eyes, freckles dusting his nose and cheeks, and a smile that could melt anyone’s heart. Eddie’s smile is most definitely Richie’s biggest weakness. That, and his laugh. Eddie sounds like a damn song when he laughs. The most beautiful, emotional, perfect song you could ever listen to. And Richie wouldn’t mind listening to it for the rest of his life.

“What’s got you so down, Eds?” Richie asked, keeping his voice quiet so that the others wouldn’t eavesdrop and shift the conversation to Eddie. Richie knew Eddie wouldn’t want that.

Eddie gazed at him for a second before shaking Richie’s arm off his shoulders and looking down. “Don’t call me that,” Eddie quipped, then propped his cheek against his fist. Richie didn’t know what to make of that. He just nodded, sighed, then went to go bother Stan.

——

They were at Richie’s house when he noticed it again. It had been a week since that day at lunch, and Eddie had still been the same. Richie hadn't tried talking to him again though, Eddie clearly didn't want to talk about whatever the hell was bothering him. But Richie was worried. He assumed Eddie would be okay by now. But there Eddie was, seated in Richie's desk chair while he stared out the window, lost in his head. Richie couldn't see his face, but he knew he was frowning.

Stan threw a pillow at Richie's face, making his glasses fall into his lap. "Ow, Staniel!" Richie whined as he picked his glasses up and put them back on his face. Stan raised an eyebrow, his silent way of letting Richie know he'd been staring at Eddie. Richie rolled his eyes and stood up, "I want a snack. Any of you fine lads wanna escort me to the kitchen?" Richie asked, using one of his many Voices. This one was a mix of posh and Scottish. Stan rolled his eyes but offered to go, standing up and heading out to the kitchen, leaving Richie in the room alone with Eddie. Richie cleared his throat to get Eddie's attention, but Eddie was still sitting and looking out the window.

"Yo, Eds." Richie said, finally getting Eddie to look over at him, and Richie expected Eddie to tell him off for using the nickname, except he didn't. He just gave Richie a sad look. Richie looked at him, concerned, and walked over to him. "What's wrong?" Richie asked gently, peering down at him with a soft gaze. Eddie held his stare but said nothing. They held eye contact for a beat too long before Eddie dropped it to look out the window, "Nothing. I'm fine."

"Eddie-"

"I'm fine! Just leave me alone, Richie!" Eddie snapped. Richie took a step back, and for a split second Eddie looked like he wanted to take it back, but instead he stood up and gathered his things. Richie didn't stop him from leaving. He just watched him go with a deep frown. He had been snapped at by Eddie before, mainly for being annoying, but it just felt different this time.

——

Richie couldn't think clearly with the sound of heavy rain outside. He had been laying in his bed staring up at the ceiling with his mind on the boy that seemed to always be on his mind. Richie was tracing the cracks on the ceiling with his eyes, thinking about how Eddie had been acting earlier. How he snapped at him, how he clearly wasn't okay like he claimed to be. Richie didn't know what was going on with Eddie, but he really wished he knew. He wanted to make whatever was making Eddie so sad go away. But Eddie clearly didn't want him to know, and while Richie may be a bit nosy and pushy, he knew when to respect certain boundaries. Especially when it came to Eddie. The last thing Richie wanted was for Eddie to hate him. Richie would never be able to live with that.

There was a soft knock on Richie's window. So soft he probably wouldn't have heard it if hadn't been paying attention to the rain. It was almost like whoever was knocking wasn't sure they actually wanted to knock. That they hoped they were too quiet so that they wouldn't have to see Richie.

It was true, that's what Eddie was hoping for. He didn't realize what he was doing until he found himself climbing up the tree and crawling on the thick branch to get to Richie's bedroom window. Eddie had never climbed up to Richie's window, it was usually Richie that did that sort of thing. But tonight was different, and Eddie needed Richie.

Richie sat up and his eyes fell on the soaked and shivering Eddie outside of his window. He stood and walked over to the window as fast as he could, nearly tripping on his way there, and unlocked the window. He pushed it up and pulled Eddie inside his room before shutting and locking the window again. "Eddie? What are you- you're freezing! Are you insane?!" Richie rambled as he raced across the room in search of some blankets.

"Rich." Eddie mumbled in the quietest voice Richie had ever heard come from his mouth. Richie stopped what he was doing and looked over at him. Eddie's eyes shined with tears, and his hands shook by his sides. The sight alone made Richie want to break. He surged forward and wrapped Eddie in a tight hug, he felt Eddie's shoulders shake and heard him sob against his chest. Richie ran a soothing hand though Eddie's wet hair and pulled him even closer. Eddie fisted the bottom of Richie's shirt as he cried, Richie could feel his shirt beginning to get wet.

"It's okay- Shh, you're okay, Eds. I'm here," Richie whispered against the top of Eddie's hair. He pressed a small kiss there, hoping Eddie wouldn't even noticed he did it. Eddie's cries quieted down, and his shaking started to cease. He slowly pulled back, but stayed close enough so that he was still in Richie's arms. Richie brought a nervous hand up to rest against Eddie's cheek and wiped the tears off his face. He kept his hand there, rubbing his thumb along Eddie's cheekbone in an attempt to soothe him. "What's been going on? You can tell me, Eds." Richie asked softly.

Eddie nodded and unconsciously leaned into Richie's hand. Richie hoped Eddie couldn't hear how fast his heart was beating. "It's everything, Rich. It's my mom, having to get ready to move away to college in a few months, having to leave my friends, my feelings... It's all so overwhelming." Eddie told, keeping his gaze locked on the tear stains he left on Richie's shirt.

"It'll be okay, Eds. We'll all see each other for thanksgiving, winter break, spring break, and summer. We're not gonna be apart forever, okay? Like I'd ever let my Eddie Spaghetti leave me for good," Richie reassured, adding a small joke to the end. Eddie giggled, for the first time in what seemed like a very long time. He stopped, but the smile was still on his face. Richie couldn't have fallen more in love with him.

Richie traced his thumb over his cheekbone again. "Have I ever told you how much I love when you smile?" Richie asked, looking straight into Eddie's eyes. Eddie shook his head, "You do?"

"Yeah," Richie smiled. Eddie's smile grew and he shuffled a bit closer, "Tell me about it?"

Richie licked his lips, his heart was hammering in his chest. "I love it when you're smiling because it's infectious, and frankly, quite adorable."

Eddie stepped closer, "Adorable?" Richie was losing his breath the closer Eddie got. All Richie could muster was a nod. Eddie took Richie's hand off his face and boldly intertwined their fingers together. Richie chuckled nervously, "You're gonna be the death of me, Eddie Kaspbrak."

Eddie laughed again, squeezing Richie's hand and bringing it up to leave the smallest kiss on the back of it. Richie's heart was officially about to burst out of his chest. Bravely, Richie surged forward and pressed his lips against Eddie's. It took Eddie a second to register before he started kissing back. It was a short and sweet kiss, and it ended about as fast as it started. Richie smiled nervously, and Eddie smiled back. They never once let go of each other's hands. 

Eddie Kaspbrak held Richie's heart in the palm of his hand, and Richie was more than okay with that. Little did he know, he held Eddie's heart in his hand, too. 


End file.
